Door opening and closing device



Dec 10, 1946. MADLAND 2,412,346

DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING DEVICE Filed Dec. 7, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l Marry Dec. 10, 1946. T. MADLAND DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING DEVICE Filed Dec. 7, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l/VVE/V foe THOR 1 671. 0 .MQDL 9ND y "W Patentecl Dec. 10, 1946 DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING DEVICE Thorvald Madland, Chicago, 111., assignor to The Youngstown Steel Door Company, Cleveland,

Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application December 7, 1942, Serial No. 468,050

This invention relates to door opening and closing devices and is concerned primarily with such devices for sliding car doors.

It is an object of this invention to provide opening and closing devices for sliding doors embodying an opening lever and a closing arm, wherein the lever and closing arm are formed as a unit capable of exerting door closing force of increased magnitude without involving an increase in the length of the lever.

A further object is to provide opening and closing devices for sliding doors embodying a lever and a closing arm wherein the lever is constructed to cooperate with an abutment member to secure door opening movement and the closing arm is carried by the lever and adapted to cooperate with the abutment memberto secure door closing movement.

A further object is to provide opening and ,closing devices for sliding doors embodying a pivotedlever so constructed that it will hang in a predetermined position and be limited in its swinging movement.

A, further object is to provide opening and closing devices for sliding doors embodying a pivotally associated opening lever and closing arm unit wherein the lever is constructed to maintain the arm in such position as to insure automatic engagement between the arm and. an abutment member.

A further object is to provide opening and closing devices for sliding doors embodying a pivotally associated opening lever and closing arm unit constructed to insure automatic disengagement of the arm from an abutment member during opening movement of the door.

Other objects of the invention will become clear as the description thereof proceeds.

In the drawings forming part of this specification:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevation illustrating the invention applied to a double door construction for railway house cars.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on line 2-2 of Fi 1.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating one of the doors opened by means of the opening lever.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the maximum opening of one of the doors at which engagement between the closing arm and an abutment member can be obtained in order to close the door.

The drawings illustrate the preferred embodi- .ment of the invention applied to a well known 4 Claims. (01. 268-44) stant invention is pivotally mounted.

vertical corrugations I3 is illustrated. Each of the vertical corrugations is reinforced by means of a substantially U-shaped member I 4 riveted to it and is bridged by means of a plate member 15 fastened to the panel at opposite sides of the corrugation. The vertical margins of the panel are reinforced, the reinforcement at the front vertical margin being designated by the reference numeral I6.

The front vertical margin of the main door is adapted to be received within a pocket I! formed by means of a front stop member I8 and a flange IQ of a door post 20 which are secured tofa metallic panel 2| forming part of the auxiliary door 22 of the double door construction. The metallic panel 2| is provided with a plurality of horizontal corrugations 23 and vertical corrugations, one of which is designated by the reference numeral 24. A knee brace 25 is customarily employed to brace the panel 2| against the auxiliary door post 20.

In the illustrated embodimentof the invention a base plate 26, preferably in the form of a casting, is secured upon one of the horizontal corrugations l2 of the main door. The base plate 26 comprises a portion 21 Which conforms substantially to the horizontal corrugation l2 and which is secured thereto as by means of rivets 28. Adjacent to the front vertical margin of the main door the base plate 26 is increased in width to w I provide a portion .29 which lies upon and is fastened to the vertical corrugation 13. At the upper forward corner of the portion 29 of the base plate an outwardly extending lug 30 is provided one margin of which is curved as indicated at 3|. The widened portion 29 of the base plate is also formed with a hollow boss 32 upon which the lever 34 of the opening and closing device of the in- This mounting is provided by means of .a rivet 33 extending through the boss and a washer 35 of larger diameter than the boss and fastened thereto by means of the rivet.

The lever 34, as more clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, is pivotally mounted upon the boss 32 intermediate its ends. The lower portion of the lever is formed with a hand grip 3B and one edge of the upper portion thereof isin the form of a cam surface 31. The inner face of the lever 34 is provided with an inwardly extend- 2,412,846 r ii I ing lug 38 which is adapted to engage the adjacent edge of the widened portion 29 of the base plate in order to maintain the lever normally in .the position illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings and to engage another portion of the edge of the widened portion 29 of the base plate in order to limit swinging movement of the lever as illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings; The outer face of the lever 34 is formed with an optwardly extending lug 39 for a purpose hereinafter indicated. The lever 34 is also provided with an outwardly extending hollow boss 40 upon which a catch arm 4| is pivotally secured by means of a rivet'42 passing through the boss and fastening a washer 43 of greater diameter than the boss upon'the outer end thereof.

The catch arm 4| is substantially in the form of a hook shaped member, the forward face of which is inclined as indicated at 44. A lug 45 extends inwardly from the rear portion of the.

closing arm. The lug 45 includes a curved portion 46 which is adapted to cooperate with the curved portion 3| of the lug provided on the widened portion 29 of the base plate for the purpose hereinafter indicated. 1

An abutment member 4! adapted to cooperate with the lever 34 and the closing arm 4| is fastened to the auxiliary door 22, as more clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The abutment member 4'! is preferably in the form of a casting and is formed with a plurality of spaced shoulders 48 and '49. The shoulder 48 is provided with an inclined wall 59 and the shoulder '49 is provided with an inclined wall 5|.

inclined walls of the shoulders 48'and 49 are adapted to engage the inclined face 44 of the closing arm so as to automatically raise the arm and permit engagement thereof with the shoulders in order to eiiect closing ,movementof the door.

face 44 thereof withthe inclined walls 59 and 5| by means of the 111g 39 formed on thelever.

Referring to Fig. 3 of the drawings, it will be apparent that the cam surface '31 of the lever cooperates with the abutmentmember 41 upon swinging movement of the lever. counterc1ockwise to impart initial opening movement to the door. It will also be apparent from this figure of the drawings that the closing arm is projectedi forwardly during the swinging movement of the lever so as to be released from the engagement with the shoulder 49, illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. As. the door is opened the inwardly extending lug 45 provided on the closing arm ap- I proaches theoutwardly extending lug 30 provided on the widened portion of the base plate 26 until contact is obtained between the curved surfaces on these lugs. These curved surfaces upon continued counterclockwise movement of the lever 34 cause the closing arm to swingiupwardly about its pivot until it is raised above theshoulders48 and '49. The counterclockwise swinging movement of the lever is limited by the engagement of the inwardly extending lug 3 8 andtheadja cent edgeof the base plate.

With the parts of the opening and closing device maintained in the position shown in Fig. 3

' of the drawings the door may be moved to its full opened position. Howeven'i-f the lever is released so that it swings clockwise direction and the closing arm drops into engagement with one of the shoulders 48 and 49 the door may still be moved to'-f1 1l1 open position without further manualoperation or; the device. *As'the move- These The closing arm 4| is supported in proper position to permit engagement of the inclined 4 V V ment of the main door is continued when the closing arm 4| is engaged with one of the shoulders on the abutment member 41 the lever will be caused to swingin clockwise direction as a,

result of this engagement. When the counterclockwise movement of the lever has continued to the point where the curved surfaces of the lugs 30 and again engage the closing arm will be raised above the shoulder so that the opening movement of the door can continue without the 'need for further manual operation of the lever.

This action will occur with each of the shoulders until the closing arm has passed shoulder 48. As

the'lever falls inclockwise direction it will as-' V sume' the position illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, this position being determined by the engagement of the lug 38 on the lever and the adjacent edge of the widened portion of the base plate 26. In this position of the lever it will be apparent from Fig. 1 of the drawings that the closing arm 4| will be supported upon'theoute wardly extending lug 39 formed onthe-levern: V

In the closing movement of, the doorthejclos- V ing arm 4| may be supported bvithe lug 39 so as to insure engagement betweentheinclined wall 50 of the abutment member and the inclined portion 44 of the closing arm.

In Fig. 4 of the drawings the extreme closing movement which can be obtained by means of the opening an closing device is shown: Assuming that the door has been closed to the extent illustrated the operating lever isswung counterclockwise direction so as-to project jthe clo sing arm forwardly and permit engagement there 'of with the shoulder 48. A force exertedflu'pon the lever at this time so as toswing itin-clo'ckwise direction will cause the door it movein closing direction but will not fullyclosezthe door. The lever is again swung counterclockwise-so as to project the closing arm into engagement with the shoulder 49. A force applied tofthe'leverto swing it in clockwise direction will then complete.

the closing movement of the door.v

fThe Qp nin'gand closing device of the in starit invention secures a door closing forc'e ofjincreased magnitude without increasing thelength of the lever. This'is obtained byglocatingthe pivot of the closing-arm at a; smaller distance fromthe lever pivot than the portion of *the icam surface ofthe lever more remote fromthetleyer pivot; CBy means of this relationship, theleverage arm of the door is decreased sojthatj a correspondingly smaller force isllfqqullcdIQQ'CIOSQ the door. Expressed otherwise, it is possiblezwith the opening and closing device oftheinstant inven i g fin l. closing mbvein r b e a sliding door of" greater weight with-the'applie I cation of the same force heretofore used jfor A lighter doors and this isaccornpIiShed without increasing the length of the lvi'e'r;- 5

While the invention has been' shown applied" to r a double door construction 'for*railway house 1 t W l be apparent to those skilled in'i-the art that the invention is-applicableas well to single door constructions f 'orf railway house ears. l

This e11- agement will force the closing arm upwardly so as to insure engagement between it and the shoulder 48. Similarly if the closing movement of will 1 force the door In the latter case the abutment member 41 will be fastened tothe side Wall of the car rather than to an auxiliary door. It will be apparent, moreover, that the lever may be fastened to the car side or to the auxiliary door and that the abutment member may be secured to the main door with such changes as are necessitated by the main door construction.

It Will be apparent that numerous changes and modifications in the details of the invention will be clear to those skilled in the art. It is intended, therefore, that all such modifications and changes be comprehended within this invention which is to be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. An opening and closing device for sliding car doors comprising an abutment, a shoulder on said abutment, a lever adapted to be pivotally mounted intermediate its ends upon a said door, a cam on said lever engageable with said abutment to impart opening movement to said door, a catch arm pivotally fastened to said lever, said catch arm being engageable with said shoulder to impart closing movement to said door, means on said catch arm spaced from the pivot of said catch arm, and means on said door engageable with said catch arm means during opening movement of said door by said lever to automatically raise said catch arm above said shoulder.

2. A lever and arm unit for an opening and closing device for sliding car doors comprising, a lever adapted to be pivotally mounted intermediate its ends, a cam on said lever adapted to engage an abutment to impart opening movement to a said door, a catch arm pivotally carried by said lever adapted to engage a shoulder to impart closing movement to a said door, and means on said catch arm spaced from the pivot of said catch arm, said means being engageable with a member on a said door during opening movement of said door by said lever to automatically raise said catch arm.

3. A lever and arm unit for an opening and closing device for sliding car doors comprising a base plate, a lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends upon said base plate, said lever having a cam adapted to engage an abutment to impart opening movement to a said door, a catch arm pivotally carried by said lever adapted to engage a shoulder to impart closing movement to a said door, means on said catch arm spaced from the pivot of said catch arm, and a member on said base plate engageable by said means on said catch arm during opening movement of a said door by said lever to automatically raise said catch arm.

4. A lever and arm unit for an opening and closing device for sliding car doors comprising a lever adapted to be pivotally mounted intermediate its ends, a cam on said lever adapted-to engage an abutment to impart opening movement to a said door, a catch arm pivotally fastened to said lever in closer proximity to said lever pivot than the remote portion of said cam adapted to engage a shoulder to impart closing movement to a said door, and means on said catch arm spaced from the pivot of said catch arm, said means being engageable with a member on a said door during opening movement of said door by said lever to automatically raise said catch arm, the leverage arm of said catch arm being less than the leverage arm of said remote portion of said cam.

THORVALD MADLAND. 

